Myopia: laser warning

During the IV International Conference on myopia, which ended in Rome on September 27, professor Mario Stirpe, president of the Bietti Foundation for ophthalmic study and research, was interviewed by the newspaper La Stampa. He spoke about what, according to the scientific community, cannot be considered as a sight defect, but a disease.

According to Stirpe 'The difference between correction of myopia as a refractive defect and myopia as a disease is one that has been much misunderstood . [...] Correction must, above all, be addressed to average forms of myopia. In serious and very serious forms', added Stirpe, 'trying to correct a refractive defect becomes risky'.

Referring specifically to laser, Stirpe explained: 'An eye at its limits must be thoroughly examined before any intervention, which must be avoided if the necessary requisites are not there. [...] Myopia can be corrected with a contact lens: when laser is used to make the correction, it is as if the contact lens were sculpted onto the patient's cornea. In order to do this, if the cornea is one millimeter thick, which is not a lot, a certain part of it must be removed. The more severe the myopia is, the more cornea thickness must be removed. If too much is removed, the internal pressure on the eye tires out the tissue. A not inconsiderable complication'.

Replying to a question on the laser 'rush' of recent years, Stirpe said: 'For a certain period the spread was really excessive. The step backward came about when complications emerged and became public knowledge. We talked about this subject during our conference: this type of surgery gives the impression of being very simple, but that is not the case. Anyone who decides to use it must be completely dedicated and be aware that what they do could also lead to complications. They must therefore select their patients on the basis of criteria which, today, are fairly implicit'.